


Conversations

by Melisshka



Category: Big Brother RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-26
Updated: 2015-03-12
Packaged: 2018-03-14 14:45:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3414587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Melisshka/pseuds/Melisshka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After another falling out with Frankie, Zach seeks advice from one of his fraternity brothers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Conversation with a Bro

"What the fuck is wrong with me? Why am I not enough for him?", Zach muttered to himself as he backed into the parking space at the mall. "Frankie thinks I'm a fucking mind reader but I don't even understand what I'm not doing."

In the Big Brother house, their connection was almost immediate with the exception of one awkward first conversation when Zach just couldn't turn off asshole mode. Even then, Frankie batted his eyelashes so hard that Zach thought he might hurt himself. After the initial weirdness though, they were inseparable with an almost unspoken understanding of what the other needed. They talked about their lives outside of BB, their friends, their families, but they didn't really need to be able to talk about their feelings for the other, they just knew. But things got a little trickier as the game went on and people used their obvious attraction to each other to plant seeds of distrust and that's when the silent understanding thing stopped working. They probably could have won the game if they'd just trusted each other enough to share things that Derrick and Cody were telling each of them about the other. But that's not how it happened.

Most days Zach was able to let go of the bitterness.

But now that Frankie had come to New York for Fashion Week, over Valentines Day, and barely managed to talk to him, much less tell him what was wrong, he was pretty sure that as usual, it was probably something he was failing to do that he didn't understand he should be doing in the first place.

Going home for the golf tournament gave him some much needed distance from the situation and something other than Frankie to occupy his thoughts. But getting away from the problem wasn't solving it, and while talking about his same sex relationship was sort of uncharted territory with his male friends he needed to talk to someone who knew him well and was unequivocally on his side.

Zach picked up his phone, scrolled a bit, and hit the button to call his fraternity brother, Erik.

"Brrrrrooooooooooo", Erik had a knack for stretching out his greetings which might have tried Zach's patience other times, but today he just laughed until Erik's breath ran out.

"Hey Bro, what's going on?" 

"Not much, dude.  School, soccer, Logan being problematic as usual. How's NY? How's Frankie?"

"Yeah, about that..."

"Oh no, after you uprooted your life to move up there? What happened?"

"Hold up, are you telling me you think I moved there to be with Frankie?

" Uhh, sorta?  Well, to me it was the obvious reason, but I haven't asked anyone else to see what they thought."

"Good, don't because I don't need that getting around."

"OK, I'll let you slide for now, Romeo, but I know better.  So, what happened?"

"Do you remember how Frankie had a freak out on Twitter and he sort of included me? Well, the next night I went and surprised him at stage door. It's kind of a long story, but after that a bunch of really good stuff happened, and I thought things were going to be OK. 

"Yeah, I heard about it. Your fans were begging me to watch ZRnotL and the videos from Frankie's show, so I did. I never imagined I'd say this to you, but you guys are really cute together."

"Man, you're freaking me out." Zach grinned broadly and just for a moment was happy they weren't on Facetime. Erik is a good guy, but he wasn't expecting that positive of a reaction. "So, this stuff doesn't horrify you?"

"Nothing to be horrified about, you just fell in love with another guy. It happens. I was kind of surprised, which is weird, because I don't think anyone else was."

Zach shook his head to make sure he heard that correctly. "Holy shit, what did you just say?"

"Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that, dude."

"Well, now that you did, I need to know what you're talking about. Everything and everybody who said stuff, spill it."

"Dude, it's not really a big deal. Nobody called a press conference or gave any interviews and talked about you. A bunch of our bros just posted some opinions and your fans got a hold of them."

"I'm not pissed, I just want to know who thinks they know stuff about me that I don't even know."

"Well, at the very beginning of the show, Nick posted on the BB16 Facebook page that he bet $10 you'd hook up with Frankie first"

How could he even know that? "What kind of shit was I doing when I was wasted at those frat parties that I don't remember. OK, What else"

"And Drew told someone on the fan page he was running for you, that you had to be really drunk to hook up with girls."

"Oh God, he told people that? " Zach left what he wanted to do to Drew in that moment unsaid, but he was pretty sure this was what homicidal maniacs felt like.

"And then someone asked Brett whether he thought you and Frankie would date after Big Brother. He said yes."

"That's harmless in comparison to what Nick and Drew said."

"And the only other one that I remember is that on someone's Instagram pic, Sebastian said that before Zankie, there was Zebby. Now that I think about it, I remember you used to cuddle with him and Brett, but maybe I was always too fucked up to put the pieces together."

Zach was panic stricken, but silent as he processed what Erik told him. None of them said anything particularly revealing, except for fucking Drew, but when he added it up he could see why people might wonder about him. "So when you saw me and Frankie together on the feeds, did you think, omg he's gay?"

"I didn't know what to think because you always seemed interested in girls, eventhough you didn't really hook up much. What do you tell Frankie now? I know in the house it was always, "if I was gay". Are things different now?"

"Why would it be different now?" Zach wasn't entirely sure where Erik was going with this, but he wasn't sure that he liked it. "I tell him I'm straight, because I am."

"Dude, I'm sorry for being dumb, but how does that work?" Zach could almost hear the gears cranking in Erik's brain. "Do you love Frankie? Do you want to fuck Frankie?"

"Yeah dude, I'm in love with him. It's crazy and weird and so fucking intense. And speaking of fucking...yes and it's great"

"Too much information, bro, seriously." Zach could feel the blush spreading over his face and neck. "So, you're in love with him, you're having sex with him, but you tell him you're straight?" Erik paused to let Zach process the list he just ran through. "Does that bother him?"

"I don't think so, I've been telling him the same things since the day I met him."

"Yeah, but your relationship is way different than when you first met. You should ask him how he feels about you insisting that you're straight, now that you're sleeping with him and telling him you're in love with him." Erik hesitated, "Sorry bro, but If I were Frankie I would be so confused."

"Maybe you're right." Zach always thought he had been consistent in what he said to Frankie. "I guess maybe my words aren't the problem, huh?"

"I don't know the guy and I've never been good at relationships either. But since you got back from California, you've been as content as I've ever seen you and if I can help you hold on to that, I'm happy."

A tear made it's way down Zach's cheek and he knew he needed to hang up before the waterworks began in earnest. 'You're the fucking man, Erik, the fucking man. Thanks bro."

"Good luck, dude. It'll work out, think about what I said and just talk to him. Later."

"Later". He wasn't sure if Frankie even wanted to talk to him, but at this point, he had some things to say that might sound different than everything he'd been saying since June. He just hoped Frankie would hear him.


	2. Truth-telling with Old Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a helpful conversation with Erik, Zach sits down with his oldest friends.

AJ was coming into town for the Honda Classic and he'd asked if Zach could pick him up at the airport. Fortunately Kevin wasn't going anywhere that day, so he handed his car over to Zach, "I'll expect it back in one piece." as Zach headed out the door the last thing he heard was, "And no shots at the bar if his flight is delayed. The last thing I need is a lawsuit because my famous son was being irresponsible."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, glad to know you still have as much confidence in me as you always have. Must be nice to be named Peyton in this house," Zach muttered under his breath as he backed out into traffic.

The airport wasn't far, but it gave Zach a chance to reflect on his conversation with Erik. Although it had happened almost a week ago, he hadn't talked to Frankie yet. To be honest, he was sort of avoiding it because they hadn't been talking much, and when they did, it was about the Abbey Red Carpet hosting gig and Elton John's fabulous Oscars after party. And with Ariana's tour coming up, it seemed silly to burden Frankie with yet another demand on his time and attention.

So, the conversation hadn't happened yet, but he had a lot of time for thinking and he was coming to some realizations about himself that would have saved him a lot of trouble had he come to them earlier. After he got out of the house and he was still unfamiliar with how to deal with his fans and how to interact with anyone on Twitter, people kept tweeting at him to watch Zankie fan videos and live feed clips. Although he didn't admit it to himself, at the time, he was a little nervous to see what everyone else saw. He knew he and Frankie cuddled a lot, he knew they tossed phrases like "i love you" around like they were candy, and he knew that their relationship with each other was completely different than the relationships they had with everyone else in the house, but he didn't how many of the more intimate moments were captured. He always had the sense that nobody really watched the live feeds in the very early hours of the morning. He knew his mom didn't, she would still be sleeping because she had to get up to be at work by 7:30.

It took a while, but he did eventually watch some fan videos and he had to grudgingly admire the time and effort the fans put into their photo and video edits. He also had to admit that there must have been people awake and recording everything all the time, because there were moments captured when he didn't think anyone was paying attention. Frankie told him that people watched the feeds at all hours, why didn't he just believe him?

He pulled into the arrivals area at the airport just as AJ was coming out. "Hey roomie!" As he waved AJ over to the car.

"What's up man, how are you? It's great to be home, it's been too damn cold in New York."

"Seriously, that polar vortex piece of shit can go fuck itself as far as I'm concerned." He gave AJ a bro-hug as they turned to get back into the car.

"So what have you been doing since you got here?"

"Lots of talking and lots of thinking. Julia and I took the dogs to the beach. I hadn't seen her for a long time, so that was kind of fun. We talked about her love life for a change, I was really happy not to get any questions about mine. I had a good chat with Erik about the situation with Frankie and I think he might have helped me figure some stuff out."

"Dude, you could have talked to me about that, I actually know and like the guy, maybe I could help."

"Honestly AJ, you've gotten so friendly with the fish that you're almost part of the Grande inner circle. I didn't need to talk to someone who can fire off a quick text and find out how many of  Frankie's friends hate me at the moment. I needed to talk to someone who knows me, just me, and has no reason not to be totally straight with me."

"I'm debating on whether I should be insulted by that, but I'll try to take it for what it's worth. I'll admit I've gotten rather to close to Lauren and Jarvis, so I guess I kind of understand."

"Thanks dude, I promise, no shade intended. You're one of my oldest friends, we've got plenty of talking to do too."

"So, speaking of the Grandes, how are things with Frankie? Were you able to clear anything up while you've been away?"

"Not really, I hate to bug him when he's busy with his life."

"Yeah, but you're a part of his life now and he's a part of yours. I know you guys have been through a lot of confusion and misunderstanding, but I sometimes think you underestimate your value to him." AJ looked over at Zach. "Yes, he's got a fabulous pop star sister, his family is wealthy, and he is a social media mogul, but you're no less than him. Don't think that way, your concerns and needs are important too."

Zach knew AJ was right, but he had trouble internalizing and acting on that knowledge. "You're right dude, but sometimes it's easier said than done."

They rode along in comfortable silence for a little while before pulling over into the Starbucks drive-thru.

"Starbucks always reminds me of Frankie." A little smile came over Zach's face.

"Dude when are you just going to admit to people that you're in love with him? Remember bud, I saw how happy you guys were that night you surprised him at the stage door, I witnessed the love in the room at 54 Below, and I actually saw your hand reach out and grab his crotch. I think in your fandom they call those receipts, but I call it evidence. Dude, I have the receipts and I can and will bring them out whenever you try to deny, deny, deny."

"I hate you sometimes. You're such a fucking lawyer."

"Yeah, I know, it's annoying, isn't it?, AJ opened the car door and grabbed his bag from the trunk, "Alright, my friend, I'll see you later.  Stop by after your sign-holding gig, Justin and Tanner are coming over for sushi tonight, we'll order some extra rolls".

 

The tournament turned out to be a lot of fun and Zach got to hang with and hold signs for one of his favorite golfers, Keegan Bradley.  He was a huge fan of Big Brother and Zach was his favorite.  For his part, Zach couldn't get enough of hearing about people who loved him as a player, especially when it had nothing to do with his relationship with Frankie.  As much as he loved Frankie and Zankie, he was always excited to know that people liked him and not just because of their relationship.

 

"Dibs!" Zach stuck out his chopsticks to grab the last piece of spider roll.

"All yours dude, I'm stuffed.  We always end up with too much sushi"  Tanner patted his stomach for emphasis. "First world problems, huh?"

"Yeah, life is good."  Justin clinked his beer bottle against AJs. "The only thing that would make it better is if I can find myself a nice hottie out at the club tonight. right Rance?  You haven't had any since you got back from Big Brother.  Those ladies aren't going to do themselves, am I right?

Zach groaned, this wasn't exactly how he expected this conversation to start.  "You know, Coach, I've been seeing someone, so I'm going out with you guys, but I won't be looking."

AJ shot him a look of sympathy, because he was pretty sure that Zach hadn't expected his coming out party to go exactly like this. 

"Dude!, that's great.  Who's the lucky gir..oh shit, for a while there..."  Sometimes Justin forgot the changes Zach had gone through over the summer, they all did.  He had watched almost every Big Brother episode over at Zachs house with Tanner, his brother, sometimes AJ and a few old buddies from the neighborhood.  CBS showed very little of Zach and Frankie's flirtation on camera, but the little they showed was pretty revealing and it became obvious to the guys that something different was happening with their old friend.

"Yeah, it's Frankie and it's OK, I know it's hard to get used to." Zach was just so grateful that most of his oldest and closest friends had not abandoned him, that he didn't mind the little mistakes at all.  "It's been a huge adjustment for me too.  We're actually in a tough spot right now because it's difficult for me to be honest with him about certain things."

AJ sat his Corona on the table, "That doesn't sound good, dude. What kind of things?

"My history with other guys."

Zach had their attention now, "Damn, see what I missed by going to school out of state? " Tanner couldn't contain his curiousity.  "What history?"

"Nothing big, just a lot of cuddling with dudes. And maybe some drunk making out." Zach explained, "I had no clue, but my frat bros have been wondering about me for years."

"Yikes, that's awkward." Justin grabbed another beer from the fridge. "I never realized anything, but I wasn't getting up to Gainesville to visit all that much; too much of my own partying to do in Orlando."

Zach continued, "Frankie has been asking me if I'm gay since we were in the house, and it started pretty early on.  I always told him no and I still tell him no.  But fans keep sending him old pictures of me being affectionate with guys and I think he's starting to feel like I'm a liar.  Fans are creeping my bros Instagram accounts looking for old pics of me and to be honest, they're finding stuff that makes me look less than 100% straight."

"Dude, that really sucks." Tanner sympathized, "I can't even imagine what you're going through.  Becoming sort of famous would be weird enough, but then having to deal with sexuality questions in a public way, ugh."

"It's mostly fun, but figuring out my relationship with Frankie and knowing there are eyes on every single public interaction is scary.  We try to keep things quiet, but then everyone assumes the relationship is dead.  And when they get upset, the fans give me shit about it, because I'm not out and proud like Frankie is.  People are so ready to put him together with any gay man he interacts with that he's had to pull back from Instagram."

AJ had been mostly quietly, "Look Zach, all you can really do is be as honest as possible with Frankie about your feelings.  Make sure he knows that you're not going to leave him for some random woman every time things get rocky.  If I were him, that would probably be my biggest concern.  Yeah, you might have fooled around a bit with guys, but you're not liking pics of hot guys on Instagram, you're liking pics of hot girls.  And rappers, but mostly hot girls."

"Is it that obvious?", Zach turned his hat around and pulled the brim down over his eyes.  

"Hahaha, seriously?  Yes, dude, you're trying too hard."

"So what's your advice?"

"If you decide to snap something provocative, just keep your mouth shut." The guys looked around at each other and nodded.  "Denying makes you look like a jerk and talking about it more makes it never go away.  Yes, your fans will freak out for a while, but then they'll go right back to making and analyzing videos and they'll pretty much leave you alone.  And Frankie will feel better because it won't seem like you're trying to deny your feelings for him."

"Now, I just have to talk to Frankie.  That's my next step." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was asked for more, and I happen to have at least one more conversations roaming around my head, so here we have AJ, Tanner, and Justin, the crew from childhood. Frankie is up next, I hope I can do that one justice.


	3. Cookies with Frankie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cookies and Conversation

"I need to see you before you start globetrotting again. I miss you, Frankie."

"It's hardly globetrotting, I'm just spending some time in LA until New York is habitable again. You know me and cold weather, with my Raynaud's sometimes the cold really gets to me." Frankie held the phone between his head and shoulder while he examined both sets of fingers.  "But yes, I was really hoping to see you too."

"I'll have Tanner drive me over after I finish my beer. Can you take me back in the morning?

"Of course, I'll see you soon."

Zach probably finished his beer in record time.

Within 10 minutes he and Tanner were heading down the turnpike toward Boca. "So you still haven't had a chance to talk to him? Tanner glanced over at Zach, who was busy checking his hair in the mirror on the back of the sun visor. "Not yet. We need to have a pretty long talk and we really need to be face to face. Facetime is OK, but it's no substitute for being in the same room.

"True. I hope you're able to get back on track. He seems to make you happy."

"Thanks for the support, he really does."

 

Frankie's Nonna lives on the island, outside the mainland part of Boca Raton. The whole area is more well off than Palm Beach Gardens, but Nonna's condo inhabits a particularly exclusive community. They gave their names at the guard shack and they were let in by attendants rather than a card or code operated gate. "Very nice," Zach thought, "I wouldn't mind living in a place like this one day".

Frankie had texted over the actual address and within a couple of minutes they pulled up to a large, beautifully landscaped condo that backs up to the Intercoastal Waterway.

"Thanks dude, I totally owe you one." Zach waved goodbye and headed up the walkway to Nonna's house.

The doorbell played a snippet of Beethoven's Ode to Joy, until the incessant barking of Nonna's puppy, Noel, drowned it out.

Zach could hear footsteps running to the door, then a quick moment of silence before the door swung open to reveal Frankie in his green tie dye T-shirt and skin tight jeans.  His smile grew huge as he gave Zach a quick once-over.

" I know, I know, you hate polos, but I've been at a golf tournament all day." Zach looked at Frankie and felt like he was melting in the warmth of Frankie's glance. "Come here," he said as he wrapped Frankie into a tight embrace. They stayed that way for what felt like minutes but probably wasn't.

"How is it that we've been a half hour away from each other for days and we're just now seeing each other?" Zach wondered aloud. "We shouldn't let this happen."

"We really shouldn't.  I'm just now realizing how much I've missed you." Frankie agreed as they untangled themselves. "Come on in, I was just getting ready to bake some cookies.  You can help, or at least help eat them."

Frankie led them into the kitchen and sat Zach down at the island to watch.  He finished pulling ingredients out of the cupboards and sat them down to join the butter softening on the counter.  "No refrigerated cookie dough for us, we bake from scratch at this house."

"I love you", Zach blushed and smiled over at Frankie, "you're always taking such good care of me. Thanks."

"Don't flatter yourself too much darling",  He dumped the stick of butter in the mixing bowl with the sugars and turned the mixer on. "I love to take care of you, but Nonna and I eat cookies too."

Zach smiled and sat there watching Frankie crack a couple of eggs into the batter. 

"Frankie."

Something serious in Zach's voice made him look up from the whirring mixer. 

"Do you think we can do this?" Zach hesitated, eyes gradually raising up to meet Frankie's gaze. "Can we make this work"

"By this, you mean us?  Frankie shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, I think we can, but it's not going to be easy and I think we both have to work harder than we have been.  I never expect relationships to be simple, but your insistence that you're straight and the fact that you start looking for girls the minute something goes wrong between us makes this even harder."

"I talked to my friend Erik last week and told him some of what's been going on with us.  He thinks I'm sending mixed signals and you're right to be confused." 

"Of course I'm right." Frankie interjected, but was curious to hear more of a straight bros take on their relationship. "But go on."

"Apparently a few of my fraternity brothers were not surprised that you and me got together."

"So what do they know that you don't?  Or that you're not willing to admit?, Frankie asked pointedly.

"I guess I was well known for getting cuddly with guys in the fraternity.  And the evidence is all over the internet.  On top of that, my friend Drew, remember the guy who was running my fan page on Twitter, he told someone that I had to be drunk to hook up with girls.  Great friend, right?

"Well, I don't know if he's a bad or good friend, but he sounds like an honest friend, so that's something." Frankie dumped the dry ingredients into the mixer and turned it back on slowly, making sure not to get flour all over himself,  "Zach, I don't remember if I ever told you this, maybe not, because of all the cameras in the house, but I always had a feeling that I wasn't the first guy.  Maybe the first one for sex, but not the first guy you've been attracted to. 

"I guess you weren't exactly the first, but you know how frats are, everything is kind of homo-erotic so I never thought I was different than my bros, but they must see something in me that I don't."

"So, I guess you haven't really had any revelations after these conversations you've had with your friends."

"What do you mean, I think I've learned a lot. 

"You may have learned a lot about what other people think of you, but have you come to any realizations about yourself?" Frankie hoped Zach understood the distinction.  "In other words, do you still see yourself as entirely straight?

"To be honest, I'm not sure.  I understand that me constantly saying I'm straight, yet being completely attracted to you in every way possible is hard to understand." Zach was not ready to admit to being gay or bi, because he wasn't sure that was accurate, maybe he was just Frankiesexual like the fans said.  "What do you need from me to feel OK about this?"

"I need to know that you're not going to go running back to Tinder and Instagram looking for smokebombs at the first sign of trouble.  Because guess what, Zach?  There is going to be trouble.  Being in a relationship where one person is a publicly very out gay man with an increasingly public life and the other person is a straight, much less public person who is unwilling to admit to being in a same sex relationship is going to be very difficult.  It already is." Frankie dumped a bag of toll house chips into the batter and beat it slowly. "But I think this can be worth it, we've both talked about how fate brought us into each others lives.  I really believe you came into my life for a reason and that makes it's super hard to let you go."

"Please Frankie, I'll do better.  I'm stupid sometimes and I go back to my default." Zach continued, "But you know me, I always told you guys in the house that I didn't hook up with Tinder girls. And I still don't.  I may talk to them, sometimes even meet up with them, but I don't do random hookups, it's not my thing."

"Come here and help me get these cookies into the oven." Frankie handed Zach a small scoop and placed a parchment covered baking sheet in front of him.  "Don't make them huge, you can fit 12 on a sheet."

"Frankie, can I tell you what really hurt me?" Zach looked up from his work with sad puppy dog eyes. "When you came back to New York from LA and you didn't make any time to see me.  Especially on Valentine's Day.  And then you said it was the best Valentine's Day ever because you took a selfie with Justin."

"Zach, I know this probably won't make sense to you, but I viewed all my fashion week activities as work, anytime I have to be _on_ whether I feel like it or not is work.  I mean, it was fun, but it was a see and be seen type of situation.  I had to make an appearance at as many of the shows as I could and then I had to walk in Malan Breton's show."

Frankie noticed that Zach had a full sheet of perfect little mounds of cookie dough in front of him,  "Let's get these in the oven."

"But couldn't I have joined you at any of the events?" Zach whined. "I feel like your dirty little secret, it's not a good feeling.  Even fucking Cody got to be there, what the fuck man?"

"First of all, Cody is a fucking model, he's done fashion work before, so let's just shut down that argument."  Frankie had no intention of letting Zach go there.  "You could have joined me, but how would you want me to describe our relationship, because you know people would ask?  Would you feel comfortable walking on a red carpet with me and me introducing you as my friend, Zach?  Would that be OK?  Would that even be true?". As he talked Frankie felt himself getting heated. "You know, the reason we're in this situation is because you are afraid of admitting publicly that we're together.  I mean, I don't really understand what your performance during "The Winner Takes It All" was all about assuming that you really want to stay private. No, no, clearly I'm just being logical and I need to learn that I can't be logical where you're concerned." Zach opened his mouth to respond, but Frankie was on a roll, "And as far as being a dirty little secret, how do you think I feel?  You spent an entire week at events related to a golf tournament, most of which was not your actual sign-holding gig.  How many days were you doing that?  3 or 4?  Why couldn't I be at any of the other events with you?  You were wondering if we can make our relationship work?  Zach, this is precisely the kind of stuff that needs to change for us to succeed."

"Alright, I get it, as usual, it's all Zach's fault."  Zach got up and started pacing. "In the fans eyes, the death of Zankie is all my fault, your friends probably hate me and think everything is all my fault, and I'm pretty sure you blame me too."

"Zach, I'm no picnic either.  I think I made some mistakes when we first came out of the house, because I publicly pushed harder than I should have.  You had pressure coming at you from all directions and I was talking very openly about true love forever and marriage." Frankie put another tray of cookies in the oven and rotated the first tray up to the top shelf to brown. "God, I was so obnoxious, and you never told me to shut my mouth.  If I was pressuring you too much, why didn't you say anything?  Maybe I'm not remembering everything, but you never said a word."

"Frankie, I sort of loved it.  I've never been in love with anyone before and most definitely never had anyone love me.  I play an asshole in real life, I make people laugh, but I never know if they're laughing with me or at me.  You're the first person in my life who saw the ZachAttack side and the just Zach side of me and loved both of them equally.  Most people want to change me to be more one or the other, but you never did."

"Zach, that was so sweet, you really do have a way with words sometimes." Frankie wiped a stray tear away and went over to check on the cookies, "Let's try not to get distracted and burn the cookies. Ooh, just in time, they're perfect. I like them just a little bit underbaked, more chewy that way."

"I'm pretty sure I'm going to like them no matter what, because my Frankie baked them." 

"You're just angling for the first cookie, I know what's happening here," Frankie gave Zach a wink and handed him the first cookie which was still hot and very melty.  

"Oh My God Frankie," Zach gushed through a big bite of cookie, "these are amazing.  You're the best baker ever."

"I hope that means I'm not only the smartest, funniest person you've ever met, but also the best baker."

Zach leaned over to pick Frankie's hand up off the marble countertop. "That's exactly what it means, you're all of the above." Raising their hands to his lips, he gently kissed the tips of each of Frankie's fingers.

"How weird is it that I can't imagine my life without you now?  Somehow I survived for 31 years and I did pretty well, but now the idea of no Zach is just crazy." He lifted his other hand to caress Zach's face, but ended up rubbing his earlobe instead. "Why do we do this?

"What? The ear thing?" Zach grinned while moving his head into the touch. "I don't know,am I like a puppy or something?  Tiger has the softest ears and I love rubbing his, maybe it's like that. Either way, don't stop."

Frankie moved his hand further back and pulled Zach in closer, "Even to do this?" He softly brushed his mouth across Zachs. 

"I guess I'll allow it," Zach dropped Frankie's hand and moved his hands to hold Frankie's face.  He pulled Frankie's upper lip into his mouth, sucking it gently, then running his tongue along the underside of it.  Frankie responded by gently pulling Zach's lower lip into his mouth and bathing it with his tongue.  

"Frankie!" He grinned into the kiss and started pulling back when he heard Nonna call for him. "I can smell those cookies, aren't you going to bring me some?"

"Of course Nonna, I have cookies and a surprise!" He filled up a plate with cookies and grabbed Zach's hand. "She loves you almost as much as I do."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea where Nonna lives, I made it up. Well there really is a barrier island right next to Boca Raton but I haven't a clue whether it's actually high-end or if Nonna happens to live there. Nor do I know if her doorbell plays Beethoven, I just really like the idea of that.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know these people at all. I've never talked to them, other than offering Zach some peanut butter fudge I made (which I choose to believe is why he followed me on Twitter), and the only thing I know about Erik is that he seems to be a sweet guy and a good friend to Zach. And I wouldn't swear 100% that Erik is a frat bro, but for some reason I think he is. This fic and the other one that I wrote are conversations that I hope Zach is having with the people close to him. Oh and this is my second fic, so be gentle. And if the ending is awkward or abrupt, it's a skill I definitely haven't honed, but if I wait until I do, this will never get posted. So, there you have it.


End file.
